Two Embers Aflame
by HedwigFan101
Summary: Many years ago, Pyrrha Nikos helped Ren and Nora. And neither has forgotten. When Ren and Pyrrha end up on the same team, they quickly find themselves drawn to speak to each other. And it certainly doesn't help when Nora discovers how easily she can push Cardin around! Sweet, homey humor and touching sorrow awaits!


"_Hello."_

_Nora glanced up. She and her friend Lie were traveling through Mistral, and they had come to a small house with a girl playing out front._

_The girl had long scarlet red hair and life green eyes..._

–

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren..."

Ren lost the thought as he heard the name of the girl beside him. It all came back to him in a flash, the day in Mistral so many years ago...

–

"_So, what's your name?" the scarlet haired girl asked._

_Ren answered for them. "My name is Lie Ren, but I go by Ren. My friend is Nora Valkyrie."_

_The girl nodded. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos..."_

–

"You remember that day, don't you, Ren?" Pyrrha asked.

Ren nodded. "Yes, and the days after."

"Is Nora jealous?" Pyrrha asked.

Ren paused. "Not sure. A little, I think, but happy with her new boyfriend..."

–

"_Come on, Cardin! Talk to me!"_

_Cardin Winchester groaned. "Leave me alone so I can point out that Velvet is a Faunus..."_

_Nora stuck out her tongue. "Oh no you don't. Come on, we are going into the Emerald Forest!"_

"_NORA, IT'S STORMING!"_

"_I'm immune to lightning."_

"_I'M not..."_

–

"Cardin?" Pyrrha asked, surprised.

"Yeah!" a bouncy voice shouted as Nora skipped in, slamming the door behind her with such force that Team RWBY across the hall burst in. Everyone froze when they saw the guy Nora was dragging along.

Cardin's hair had been singed off.

"Do I want to know?" Blake Belladonna asked.

"Oh, it was AWESOME!" Nora shouted enthusiastically...

–

"_Do we HAVE to go into the forest?" Cardin shouted over the thunder._

"_I'll abandon you to the Grimm if you don't," Nora smirked._

"_I'm game!" Cardin shouted in panic._

_Lightning seared the sky around them as two screams, one of delight and the other of pain, were raised..._

–

Ruby tilted her head, concerned. "Um, Nora, maybe you should let Cardin go back to his dorm."

Nora pouted. "But that's no fun!"

Pyrrha grabbed Ren by the collar and pulled his ear close to her mouth. "I'll get Nora. You take care of Cardin. Okay?"

Bewildered, Ren nodded, walked over to Cardin, and grabbed his wrist to forcibly haul him to his own dorm if necessary. Meanwhile, Pyrrha tried her best to hold Nora back. Team RWBY as well as JNPR's own leader Jaune tried to hold Nora back.

Ren and Cardin ran. Hard. Cardin was too shocked to find his dorm, and so they eventually ended up in the courtyard. The rest of Teams JNPR and RWBY were on the roof now, as Nora still wasn't through with her bolt of strength from the lightning.

Nora leaped over the edge, and the others chased after her. Ren and Pyrrha joined up in an instant, fighting to keep Nora away from Cardin. If only they had noticed the waterfall right behind them.

Nora growled in frustration and punched with both her hands. Up until then, the night had been childish and playing. That was when it got worse.

The two fighters stumbled back, and everyone froze in shock as they lost their balance and tumbled over the cliff.

–

It was a long fall.

Pyrrha was slowing it with her semblance, but she couldn't do all that much. After a few moments, she removed her crown from her head and shoved one side into Ren's hands.

"Hold it!" she commanded.

The crown glowed black. Pyrrha faltered, but Ren couldn't focus on that.

_I don't want to die. I don't want to die._

_I WON'T die._

_I choose to live._

A spark of power made the crown glow a bright silver. The glow passed from the crown to Ren back to the crown, then to Pyrrha, then back to the crown again.

Pyrrha looked at Ren, her eyes full of grim determination. "We're not going to die."

Ren shook his head, and they hit the water at the exact moment the crown was shoved to the side, and Pyrrha grabbed Ren's head in her hands, and lips met lips as the crown's magic was worked. Slowly, they drifted to the bottom of the lake, the Choice Relic floating between them.

Pyrrha's body glowed with a faint amber light, and fire erupted at the corners of her eyes. It was a partial fire, but still. A doorway stood beside them, in this air bubble at the bottom of the lake.

And here they would wait.


End file.
